


Stay with me?

by Ohsoprecious



Series: Vexeris Trevelyan [3]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Early Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-10
Updated: 2015-09-10
Packaged: 2018-04-20 02:38:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4770413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ohsoprecious/pseuds/Ohsoprecious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dorian never stays the night. Vex doesn't like it. Not one bit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stay with me?

**Author's Note:**

> Here is a screenshot of Vex: http://ohsoprescious.tumblr.com/post/128782536041/vexeris-trevelyan

A month. He'd been with Dorian a month. Vexeris still wasn't used to it. Not even remotely. It was a good thing, mind you.  
He never wanted to get over how Dorian made him feel. Weak knees. Parched throat. How his heart beat faster just at a glimpse of the dark skinned mage.  
But he was also noticing something he hadn't before. Something that worried him.  
Vexeris wasn't stupid, as much as he pretended to be. Yet, it wasn't until Cole brought it up, that he realized Dorian had a problem. A problem in letting himself go.

He couldn't have that. He liked the man, Maker preserve him. More so than he knew was wise. More than he should've. But he'd never been good with careful and restrained.  
Dorian was, in his way, exactly that.  
And for the first time in a long while, he realized he was afraid. Afraid of pushing too hard, too fast. It was clear Dorian needed time. Time to adjust, to be comfortable with the idea of more, of a real meaningful relationship.  
So for a month, he hadn't said anything. Didn't mention how tense Dorian seemed to be sometimes. How, unless it was for sex or a quick kiss, he never seemed to want to be completely alone with him.  
He didn't resist when Dorian practically fled from the bed every time. No matter how deeply it hurt him. And it did.  
This was new for him, too. He'd had this idea, this plan of what he wanted to do, what he looked forward to when he, if he, managed to find someone. A man that made him want to stay.  
And he had. He thought it was the same for Dorian.

It was easier on the road. There, at least, Dorian was forced to share the tent. Outside of Skyhold there was always a good reason. Desert nights were cold. Bull was too big. Blackwall snored too loudly. No sharing a tent with a woman, no matter the fact that Dorian was certainly not a risk for them.  
But even then, the mage insisted on separate bedrolls.  
He'd tried telling him, that their friends already knew. There were still other people around, had been his reply.

If he'd been another person, he'd have waited. Let Dorian adjust at his own pace.  
But he wasn't patient. Never have been. He dove in hard and fast, in battle and in life.  
That didn't mean that he wasn't afraid.

"Dorian? Can I ask you question?"

The mage looked up, momentarily stopping his search for his robe. He was in his small clothes and while Vexeris appreciated the view, he had to ask this now. Before he was completely dressed and could escape easily.

"Of course. Anything specific in mind? Some unfulfilled fantasy you want to realize?"

His smile died when he looked back at the Inquisitor, finding him leaning up on his elbow, the sheets covering him from the waist down, looking quite serious.

"Are you happy? With me, I mean."

The mage looked at him wide eyed, startled by the question. He turned fully towards the bed, dropping his robe in the nearby couch.

"Of course I am," he said quickly, without any hesitation," why? Have I done something that made you think otherwise?"

Vexeris looked him in the eyes, those beautiful grey eyes that had him enraptured from the moment he saw them. There was hesitation. Fear. The same as him. And underneath it all, a fragile man hiding his hurt with a stone wall of arrogance, flare and sarcasm.

_Glittering to gloss a hidden hurt. Unlearning not to hope for more. Stumbling steps where the wall used to be._

He knows better than to press him. So he offers. Asking without really asking.

"No. It's just that you never....you can stay, if you want."

He sees his fear. It washes through him, an old enemy he knows too well.  
Fear of asking for more than it is given. He's been there before. They both have.

"Here? The night? Tsk tsk what will people say?"

"I am trying to be serious. You could at least try not being an ass about it," he snapped, startling himself and Dorian both.

The mage looked down at his feet, realizing this wasn't just a lighthearted offer he'd made.  
He stepped towards the bed, sitting down on it, the sheet still rumpled. He fingered the edge of it, finding the courage to look Trevelyan in his azure eyes.

"I....I am only trying to...."

"I know what you're trying to do, Dorian," he started, coming off far angrier than he intended to. But he couldn't stop, the words pouring out, fueled by a month's worth of frustrations.

"You know I don't give a nug's ass about what people think. They'll always find something to latch their bloody scandal on, find some imaginary fault with me. If the most they can whip up, is a weakness for Tevinter mages, I count that as a victory."

"And as for my reputation" he continued," I am quite capable of ruining it by myself. One only needs to meet me, after all. And if they find fault with the fact I've found some happiness in the arms of my favorite mage, they can go fuck themselves. If you care more about who the man who's saving your collective ass is sleeping with, than Corypheus and the Breach, you've got your priorities wrong."

Vexeris couldn't see Dorian properly, the man had his back turned towards him, but even from his odd angle, he could see him watching his hands, a small, secret smile on his lips.  
His real smile, he had learned. No wide, bright smile, his lips curving, as if he was moments away from laughing. No. This tentative, almost shy little smile was his honest one. The one he only showed... only allowed Vex to see.

Trevelyan sat up, using Dorian's silence as an opportunity, scooting closer to the mage, until he could wrap his arms around the man's naked hips, pressing the both of them together.  
Dorian drew in a sharp breath, smiling, even as he tensed at the carefree contact.  
It took him a while to speak. Time Vexeris used to press delicate kisses along the mage's shoulder, drawing a smile when Dorian groaned quietly, muttering in Tevene.

He was so enthralled with what he was doing, he almost missed it.

"I didn't know it was something that was....permitted," came the quiet whisper, hesitant and fearful.  
A far cry from the confident mage the world knew him as.  
A lot closer to the fragile man he'd seen after their first night together.  
A glimpse of the man underneath the mask, a man that had been hurt too much, by too many people, but was still brave enough to care, to try it all again, knowing it could lead to even more hurt.

"It is. It most definitely is. Dorian, if I didn't think I'd scare you off, I would suggest that mutual domesticity thing you mentioned the first time."

Dorian was about to reply, startled by Vexeris's words, but the rogue didn't let him, cupping his face with both hands, forcing him to look at him, grey eyes shimmering a little bit too much.

"Dorian, don't ever think you are not allowed something. I would give you anything," Vexeris said, already knowing it would set off all his worries, all of Mother Giselle's sermons he'd pretended to dismiss,"and sod those who think you're using me. They don't know you or me."

The mage inclined his head, obviously not knowing what to say. On any other occasion, Vexeris would've enjoyed the rare event of rendering the Tevinter speechless.

"Besides, I'm not a bloody little virgin flower. I am quite capable of defending myself against money grabbing men. Or women, but they don't have a chance by default. So, as much as I appreciate you trying to preserve my dignity, it's gone up in flames years ago."

Vexeris drew in a sharp breath, steeling himself. It's not like he was any more knowledgeable on this than Dorian. But, at least, he knew what he wanted. He wasn't sure Dorian was the same.

"All I ask, is....when you're comfortable, stay? With me? And of course, never hesitate to ask things of me. Of _me_ , not the inquisition," he quickly added, hearing Dorian's mind protest.

He knew he'd won, when Dorian gave him a small smile, his smile and kissed him, slowly, something he was unaccustomed to. Dorian was used to fast. If there were kisses at all.

Vexeris tried not to react, when Dorian curled up next to him, instead of getting up from the bed and dress, a mere two days later, but the wide smile simply wouldn't leave his face.  
Instead he put his arms around Dorian and kissed his forehead, his heart fluttering with joy, as he felt the mage relax in his embrace.

He was about to fall asleep, a smile still playing on his lips, when Dorian spoke. A whisper, afraid to ask, but also afraid not to. Still adjusting to the idea, to more.

"Could I come here to...read sometimes? Just read?"

"Of course," came the immediate answer, startling the mage who'd half hoped he hadn't heard the question.

"The...the ravens incessant squawking does get tiresome. And the mages...."

"Dorian. I'd love to have you here. You don't need to justify wanting to see me. Ever."

The mage smiled warmly. Spurred by the positive answer, he dared even more, his heart beating loudly against his chest, joy and fear of rejection intertwining inside him.

"And, since I'm going to stay here sometimes, could I leave a few of my robes? It's a dreadful thing to be seen in the same outfit for two days, you see."

"Of course. I'll move some stuff, first thing in the morning."

He almost regretted that one. When he realized that Josephine's loud protests on the number of outfits the mage possessed, wasn't her being over dramatic, but a very real storage problem.  
But it was worth it. Just for that secret smile Dorian sported, whenever he opened the dresser and saw his clothes along the Inquisitor's.


End file.
